Wales v England: live

Follow live minute-by-minute commentary of the 2013 Six Nations title decider
between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Friday
March 16, 2013.

No love lost: Wales and England go head-to-head in a frantic compelling match at the Millennium StadiumPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Oliver Pickup

7:00PM GMT 16 Mar 2013

Who, from the players on show at Cardiff, will make your British and Irish Lions' Test XV, and how excited should England supporters be if the red rose blossom here or will Wales' superior experience win the war? Email me here: Oliver Pickup. Or send me a tweet at @OliverPickup.

What a day for Wales. They successfully defend their Six Nations title with Alex Cuthbert crossing for two tries while England, who had been chasing a Grand-Slam dream, were found wanting and had only one Owen Farrell penalty to show for it. Wales scored 27 points more than England, and that's a record on home turf against the men in white. You have to go back over 100 years, to 1905, to find the next heaviest loss: 25 points. Ouch.

Wales were better in every area today, and England could not lift themselves from a poor showing against Italy last week. Now Wales' loss to Ireland in the opening weekend looks an anomaly. The Welsh players' superior caps counted in the end here.

England's young side will come back but they really need to learn the lessons from this defeat. It will hurt now, as Ryan Jones, wearing a suit and with his right arm in a sling, lifts the Six Nations trophy into the Cardiff sky with Gethin Jenkins. The stadium lights had been dimmed as the Welsh players received their medals, and now as the cup is raised high fireworks explode. It's party time in Cardiff.

"This is better than the Grand Slam last year," Wales coach Rob Howley says. He had been under fire leading up to the championship, as Wales had lost seven Tests on the trot. "Teams don't become bad overnight."

<noframe>Twitter: Brian Moore - Congratualtion to Wales; a dominant performance that was well planned and executed. Impressive in thought and deed and hugely physical.</noframe>

A beaming Justin Tipuric collects his bubbles and says:

It is a dream. We never thought that we would play so well in front of our home crowd. We know what we can do. We have been ready since Monday. We are chuffed to bites. We had a lot of bad media [after the Ireland defeat] and it brought us closer together.

"We are gutted," says Stuart Lancaster. "We struggled at the breakdown and in the set pieces. The first quarter of the second half was not good enough. We did not match Wales' physicality."

Keith Thrower (who must be a hooker, right?) is fuming.

"All English players should be left out of Lions – no skill, no spirit, no will to win. Pathetic performance today – and poor against France and Italy."

And Mike Morris tells is how it is.

"As I saw the game every Welsh player outplayed his opposite English player."

<noframe>Twitter: Brendan gallagher - Justin Tipuric's MOM performance has just made the Lions captaincy call even more difficult because he is the Test 7 without a doubt</noframe>

79minMan of the match is announced as Justin Tipuric - good call. Has he nudged Chris Robshaw from the British and Irish Lions No7 berth? England have a penalty with 10 seconds left. Care finds Geoff Parling who races in to a gap. Trying to force it Farrell's pass goes to ground, but Tuilagi scoops up and goes again. It eventually comes back to Parling, who knocks on. That will be that.

78min Brown has a break now on the right, but he drops the ball as his is tackled from behind. More impotence.

75min The action on the field is petering out. More reset scrums until England are penalised at the set piece once more. They have really struggled in that area. And the lineout. In truth they bottled it today, the forwards. Or rather the Wales pack wanted it more. Warburton and Tipuric have had telling contributions.

72min Danny Care, desperate to make an impression, kicks when England are in with a sniff of the try line. Oh no. That is poor, and just a waste of good possession. Seven minutes left here and everyone knows that England can't possibly turn this around.

<noframe>Twitter: Brendan gallagher - Extraordinary to think this is the wales team that trailed 30-3 to Ireland after 47 mins of this Championship!! Bonkers but thats sport</noframe>

71min WALES 30-3 ENGLAND And Dan Biggar, in the absence of Halfpenny, who is getting treatment, does indeed knock it over.

69min England have a penalty on half way but there is no point going for the posts. They tap and go, but Wales, playing like the champions they were last year, bounce back. They win a penalty and Biggar will kick this.

67min WALES 27-3 ENGLAND Dan Biggar adds the conversion. No way back now for England. Toby Flood and Danny Care come on for Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell. Last throw of the dice. James Haskell, winning his 50th cap, is on for Tom Wood.

66min WALES 25-3 ENGLAND Another try for Alex Cuthbert - his second of the game. Sam Warburton managed a half break, and the ball breaks right where Justin Tipuric's dummy fools Brown and the flanker puts in his right winger.

65min DROP KICK! WALES 20-3 ENGLAND Dan Biggar extends the lead with a neat effort after more pressure.

64min Roberts now goes crashing through, and on the left Davies evades a couple of tackles and Wales once more pitch their camp on the England 22.

Harry Jones has given up for England.

England are not as good as they believe. The NZ game was an aberration.

62min Big noise as Gethin Jenkins is replaced. Sam Warburton will be captain of Wales - again - for the last 20 minutes. How fitting would it be if his side can hold on here. Paul James is on for Jenkins.

61min England have a chance to claw back three points as Wales are whistled for a high hit. Farrell misses his second penalty of the afternoon. It again head left. Still time for England if they score a try. Soon.

59min A quarter of the game left and England are 14 points behind as Halfpenny's attempted conversion slide wide.

The dogs are watching this game, according to Lydia Ellis

Here at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home our dogs are backing England for the match. Click here to see our own England team.

57min WALES 17-3 ENGLAND Try for Alex Cuthbert - the first try of the game! That's his eighth score in his 18th Test. He had a lot to do on the right. The ball is turned over and Wales flash left in England's 22. Mike Brown looks to have his opposite man in his sights, but a huge hand off allows the Welshman to scoot around him on the outside and dot down. Great score.

53min England make more changes. Tom Youngs, who has struggled today in both set pieces, makes way for Dylan Hartley, and Courtney Lawes is on for second-row Joe Launchbury. And already those changes look to embolden England; the visitors push on with purpose.

52min WALES 12-3 ENGLAND And Leigh Halfpenny does nail it. Nine points the difference. Wales will win if the scores stay like this.

50min Tough for England now. Wales are breaking England down. Phillips goes close, as does Roberts now. Wales have a penalty advantage, and as Jonathan Davies is tackled in midfield play goes back for that three-point chance. If Halfpenny nails this, from the left about 25 metres out, it will be over the eight points Wales need for the title.

49min Roberts tries to dive in on the left-hand side, but the door is shut. Ian Evans takes it on. Now Hibbard, who crossed from this far out last week.

47min A mistake now from an English back - Alex Goode overcooks his kick. And Wales have a line 30 metres out. They march up to the 10 metre line and England hold on desperately.

45min Mako Vunipola comes on for Marler, who has been out-scrummaged by Adam Jones. Will this switch change England's positions? "Be quiet and scrum," says Walsh, after Tom Youngs continues to chatter before another reset scrum. They do scrum now and new man Vunipola goes now. Penalty Wales. Problems.

44min Now England are whistled for not pushing straight - Marler was buckled. Biggar's kick takes them up to halfway. It's stolen by Croft, but he knocks it on. Scrum Wales on half way.

42min A battle of wills - and sign of nerves perhaps at the start of the half - as kicks are traded as both teams play for possession. And it's Halfpenny who makes a mistake, hitting his effort out on the full despite being outside his 22. The red rose win the lineout but concede a scrum penalty and there is that home-side roar once more.

41min England were out early from the break, knowing that they can win their first Grand Slam in 10 years as Biggar starts the second half. How important will the replacements be as the games wears on?

HALF TIME: WALES 9-3 ENGLAND

It's fast, frenetic and utterly compelling. Wales are certainly on top and in truth England will be pleased to be only six points behind. If the scores stay like this then the home side will win the match but not the Six Nations. They need to extend that gap by at least two more points. England have been penalised at the breakdown and missed 10 tackles already. Are they feeling the pressure? Farrell has missed one kick, but it was a tricky chance.

https://twitter.com/MickClearyTel/status/312983072649920513

Will Greenwood is wincing at some of the hits, and feels the need to use four exclamation marks.

"This is a nuttily physical game!!!!"

39min Very messy in that scrum again. It has to be reset. And once more ... Third time lucky for Wales, as the forwards shunt England's pack back well. Free kick, which Phillips taps quickly. A couple of quick pick-and-go rumbles take the Welsh in the red zone. Biggar drops back in the pocket and Phillips finds him, the No10 swings his right boot and drops a kicks between the posts. But it's agonisingly wide left. That was only inches. That is the last action of the half.

38min Alex Cuthbert is able to gallop clear after collecting Farrell's kick. And his fellow wing North, on the left, shows his pace again now. But as he tries to kick through a grubber he is tackled by Farrell. His air kick gives England a scrum on their 22.

36min Dan Cole snaffles loose ball from a Welsh lineout. But it comes to nought as both sides, over-eager to get an edge, trade possession. Still a great pace to this match.

34min The game is really exciting now. End to end stuff. It's being played at a breathless, high tempo. Brown with a good run, and Halfpenny boots upfield again and is almost caught.

32min Biggar intercepts! And he flicks the ball to George North. The big man races from his half and looks certain to score if he manages to get around Mike Brown, but just as he looks as though he is clear the England man's desperate tap tackle down him. How important will that be? And now with Halfpenny out of position Goode shuffles the ball to the right-hand corner.

31min Oooph!Good hit by Hibbard on Marler. The prop holds on though.

30min Oh no: Tom Youngs' throw is far too long. Wales gather and Biggar clears. But he re-entered his 22, so England go right back to where he kicked it. Youngs finds his man this time.

29min England have a penalty when yet another scrum collapses. Tough call. It was within Farrell's territory but he kicks to the left corner.

27min Farrell misses his kick from about 45 metres and to the left. It never goes right enough. Let off for Wales, but the six-point gap is just about fair.

25min England try to keep the ball through the hands, but they are looking a little lateral. Ashton takes a neat pass from Farrell, and Roberts loses his footing which allows the Saracens winger to break the gainline. Next, out wide Brown almost escapes his man before Walsh blows for a penalty for his team - this time Wales are being sloppy at the breakdown.

24minWALES 9-3 ENGLAND Three out of three from Leigh Halfpenny. Wales back to six points in front.

22min A stat has just flashed up and England have already missed six tackles (out of 45) this afternoon. Not good. And now Tom Youngs pops up from a scrum and Wales, just inside the English half, have another penalty chance. Stuart Lancaster's side have really struggled in the scrum so far today.

21min WALES 6-3 ENGLAND The red rose are on the scoresheet after quarter of the game gone, as Owen Farrell's kick goes in off the right-hand post. A good omen? We'll see.

19min Now England had a three-point shot. Sam Warburton transgresses in the tackle and Farrell marks out his first effort of the afternoon, from about 40 metres out.

17min England penalised at the breakdown once more. This time it's Tom Youngs. And from the half-way line will Leigh Halfpenny go for the posts? That's almost as many penalties conceded against Italy already. Poor discipline from England.

15min Chris Ashton, shorn of confidence in attack and defence apparently, then gives away a silly penalty at the breakdown and Biggar uses the touchline to punt his country back up the field.

13min A quickly taken tap penalty by Mike Phillips allows the scrum-half to make good yardage from his own half. Well played. But England win it back and on the left Tuilagi almost releases Mike Brown. The Harlequins full-back, playing left wing here of course, is just scragged, and his flick inside fails to find an English hand.

11min WALES 3-0 ENGLAND Yes, well done Leigh Halfpenny The Wales full-back held his nerve and arrows the penalty through the sticks perfectly.

9min They are penalised now as Chris Robshaw is adjudged not to have rolled away. Tough call, though. Where could the England captain go? Welsh forwards were stamping on him. Anyway, Wales have a chance to strike first blood from the right of the posts.

8min The set piece has to be reset again. And It's gone down once more, but Phillips is able to flick the ball out to Dan Biggar. Jamie Roberts makes a yard in his run, but England - not committing many to the rucks - are defending will on their 22.

7min They reset and try again. Big challenge on the England 22. Ben Youngs to put in. But the scrum half did not put in - that's a free kick for not feeding. Wales were going forward there, though. They call for another scrum. Fair enough after that shove!

5min Richard Hibbard, who scored his first try for his country last week in the win against Scotland, hits his man and the Cardiff crowd make themselves heard. Wow, what a noise. They knock on, though. And it's the first scrum. It collapses. Steve Walsh's patience will be tested here.

4min Big roar as Goode has to run the ball out in his own 22 now. That came when at the other end of the pitch Farrell's pass came off Tuilagi - poor from him - and Dan Biggar kicked deep in to England territory.

3min Another grubber from Farrell - this is an obvious tactic - bounces off Faletau and it's an English throw just inside the Welsh half. It's a good one from Tom Youngs.

2min Good pressure from England now as Owen Farrell prods a kick through, but he puts too much on it and Leigh Halfpenny can dab down for a 22 drop out.

1min Owen Farrell starts the game with a long kick which is caught by Mike Phillips five metres from his tryline. He passes away and Wales clear their lines before Alex Goode runs it back.

16.55 Five minutes away from kick off now. And here come the teams. Cue the fireworks and pomp. Amazing atmosphere in Cardiff. Incredibly loud! "I've never seen anything like that before in rugby," says Sir Clive Woodward. And that's saying something, indeed! Very good rendition of God Save the Queen is following by a spine-tingling Welsh anthem. Emotions running very high in the captial. And just to recap if Wales win by eight they will successfully defend their Six Nations crown. Hang on to your hats, this is going to be some game.

Here's Zack Goldring's prediction:

I'm rooting for England ... but Wales with home advantage? My head says the Welsh pip England with a drop kick or penalty kick in the last minute!

Do you agree?

16.50 Former England full-back Jason Robinson reckons is going to be close.

16.40 The great and the good from England's recent successful past have been having their say on how this one's going to go. Jeremy Guscott looked a little awestruck when he said, gazing up at the stands in Cardiff, that "England will be alright if they can keep their cool ... in the middle of all this ..."

Meanwhile, Sir Clive Woodward, who knows a thing or two about winning high pressure matches, dismisses the thought that England could be spooked by the atmosphere: "The England team will be heading here fully prepared, make no mistake."

Making no mistake, you imagine, will be key this evening for both sides.

16.30Another win for Italy, then, and the potential of the Irish ending the championship with the wooden spoon. On any other day that would be the headline act.

<noframe>Twitter: Mick Cleary - Terrific from Italy. Ireland well beaten Parisse has claim to be best player in world never mind just no 8.</noframe>

But it is not any other day, is it? Wales and England are just over 30 minutes away from a match that could see England claim a first Grand Slam in a decade, or Wales retain their title (or England nick the title with a narrow defeat, of course, but let's not get in to that just now.

The atmosphere is building. But it's all friendly so far - even these two misguided loons have found a kinship that crosses the divide - and possibly raises questions about both country's dealing with the mentally infirm...

16.15 Our own Brian Moore has taken a look around the Millennium Stadium and has decided it's the perfect venue for a match of this magnitude:

<noframe>Twitter: Brian Moore - If you can't play here; where can you play? <a href="http://t.co/6M6FqPVBKF" target="_blank">http://t.co/6M6FqPVBKF</a></noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: BBC Radio 5 live - Here are the Cardiff Arms Park Male Voice Choir with Bread of Heaven, Men of Harlech &amp; Land Of My Fathers: <a href="http://t.co/lBz4LLQOOK" target="_blank">http://t.co/lBz4LLQOOK</a></noframe>

14.15 Some suggested reading from Telegraph Sport now.

- Sam Warburton, man of the match last weekend in Edinburgh, writes that he is pleased not to be burdened with the Wales captaincy while he finds his form once more. Gethin Jenkins will take charge today, but the blind-side flanker says: "I had deliberately put a lot of pressure on myself during the week before the Scotland match. My fiancee Rachel said that I was acting a little bit strangely and that she thought it was best to leave me alone.

"I quite enjoyed not having the responsibilities a captain has, especially before the game, and I could sit down beforehand in the changing room and completely focus on myself. It was definitely the best game I have had at the breakdown all season. I was pleased with how I played against New Zealand during the autumn series but this was better." Ominous for England. Read more here.

Calm before the likely storm in Cardiff

- Italy captain Sergio Parisse calls Brian O'Driscoll, who may or may not be retiring from international duty after today's game in the Italian capital, "one of the best centres in the history of the game". Brendan Gallagher's article is here.

- Declan Kidney has to persist with young Paddy Jackson at fly-half against Italy, in the continued absence of injured Jonny Sexton. More here.

- Will Greenwood maps out how Stuart Lancaster's side can win the Grand Slam at the Millennium Stadium - the former World Cup winner's favourite ground. "Cardiff is going to be full on by late afternoon – even the coach trip in is going to be colourful. This is not a city that does rugby by halves and it has the best stadium atmosphere in the world, my favourite bar none," he writes. Read more here.

- Mick Cleary says the at the Welsh - especially on home turf - will not make it a walkover for England, and Lancaster's young team will have never faced anything like this fiery atmosphere before. "The frisson that has always attended this fixture has been given an extra edge," he notes here.

14.10 How do the bookies see this afternoon's three games going?

Well, for Italy-Ireland the best odds on BOD's boys are 4/9, while for Italy - always more difficult to play at home - are a generously priced 5/2. See more odds here.

No surprise here, but in the Wales-England clash (5pm) it's hard to call, even for the bookmakers. The current best odds for England to succeed are 10/11 while it's 6/5 to Wales. Fancy a flutter? See all the options here.

In the final game of the championship, France-Scotland (8pm), the home side - yet to win in this year's Six Nations (and who were last wooden-spoon winners in 1999, when Scotland last won) - are favourites on 1/5. The Scots are 33/1 to upset le apple cart.

14.00 Good afternoon rugby fans, and what an exciting finale we have in store to conclude the 2013 Six Nations. Has it been a vintage year? England, if they manage to secure their first Grand Slam in a decade, will certainly think so.

However, neutral fans (so those in the southern hemisphere, then) will point out that after an explosive start to the championship, the quality - from all half-dozen sides - has waned since. While the weather has been unkind (and the calls for the tournament to move closer to the summer months grown louder), at least we have an all-to-play-for, title-deciding clash at the Millennium Stadium between the reigning champions and their English foes.

The stadium roof in the Welsh capital will be closed. So at least a greasy ball and slippery surface will be no excuse this afternoon.

We are three hours away from kick off, but I'll be adding to this blog in between entries for the first match of the day, between Italy and Ireland in Rome. Will it be Brian O'Driscoll's last stand? Follow Italy-Ireland as it happens here.

Who would have though Wales, Grand Slam winners last year, would make it to the last round still in the running?

Going in to the championship the side - managed by Rob Howley in the absence of British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland - had lost seven Tests in a row, and when they were defeated by Ireland in their opener the words 'wooden' and 'spoon' were mentioned about a side who looked as though their confidence had been shot.

But they have bounced back with hard-fought victories over France, Ireland and Scotland, and Wales - in simple terms - now need to beat their visitors by eight points to defend their Six Nations crown.